Android dominates Verizon smartphone sales; BlackBerry tanks

Investment research firm ITG has been investigating the sales figures from Verizon Wireless and it has come up with a pretty interesting find: the vast majority of smartphones sold by Verizon Wireless are Android handsets. That fact, while pertinent, is not all that shocking. What is shocking is this: in October of 2009, BlackBerrys accounted for 93% of Verizon Wireless’ smartphone sales. Just over one year later, in November of 2010, Android accounted for 80% of Verizon Wireless’ smartphone sales and BlackBerry’s share comes in at under 20%. How did Android go from not having a single handset in Verizon’s lineup in October of 2009 to sales domination eleven months later? You can credit Verizon’s fierce marketing blitz around the devices, consumer demand for more media centric devices with bigger screens, or RIM’s slow, measured approach with hardware. Whatever you want to credit or blame, those numbers are staggering and should not be ignored.

Ah man they should have used different colors for the graph. It’s hard to differentiate who’s who even with the names.

BDUS

If your not using a small blackberry screen its easy.

http://twitter.com/MobileSpoon MobileSpoon

How come these statistics miss the iPhone 4?

(just kidding…)

Anonymous

it’s funny because they all do buy one get one & blackberry gives you just as may free phones.

Mgl323

And love or hate Verizon, they’re the ones who brought up Androids popularity.

Norm

That is absolutely true. DROID is as popular as it is today because of our aggressive DROID DOES campaign. I’m getting sick and tired of all of the Teen Mobile kids claiming the G1 made DROID huge. No one has ever heard of the G1. The G1 doesn’t DOES like DROID DOES.

Norm

oh and their network blows ass.

Smartman

I’m going to have to disagree with that 1…….It was really T-Mobile made it popular and they have the largest variety of Android phones of any carrier

numetheus

The one you hear everywhere you go is Droid. The early Android phones on T-Mobile never really made a splash until Droid came to the scene. To tell you the truth when the mytouch was out I barely saw anyone with them. When Droid came out suddenly everyone had one .. and it quickly became THE phone to get. None of the T-Mobile phones are as popular and T-Mobile is still last on the list of subscribers. Droid draws people to Verizon like iPhone draws them to AT&T. How can you say T-Mobile made them popular when they are still the one with the least number of customers out of the big 4?

Anonymous

This is very true. T-Mobile pretty much was pushing it through HTC’s commercials which had a cool SInnerman jingle, and that was about it.

The Droid commercials made Android really really cool and compelling, although sometimes I confused their commercials with that gum commercial that was running at the same time.

numetheus

Yeah, everywhere I look people are rocking Droids of different types … with or without keyboards. The Evo is popular too. The T-Mobile phones? Not so much. This popularity is confirmed by subscriber count. There was not an overwhelming number of people that went to T-Mobile even if you personally would like to think so. People flocked to Verizon however when the Droids released, catapulting the popularity of the OS. T-Mobiles android release to me was similar to the Palm Pre. It was hugely popular amongst the current subscriber base, but wasn’t enough to draw people in, so it didn’t really give Pre as a platform any real traction. The same case applies to T-Mobile and their offering.

Norm

DROID is not popular because of Tmobile. That is insane. Just because they released the DROID beta project known as the G1 before anyone else. It certainly didn’t start the storm that is DROID DOES. If anything Tmobile does harm to DROID by having such a terrible network and thus people might have an idea that DROID is the problem. The iphone has a similar problem with being on At&t. Everyone thinks it drops calls when in fact it’s just At&t that drops calls. DROID DOES!

Asianguy80

Well when all you introduce is Android phones and push those and BlackBerry only seems to release one or two CDMA Berry’s a year it’s kind of tough to do that comparison…but don’t we all love how statistics can be skewed to show whatever it is the people want it to show.

http://twitter.com/MikeKillion Mike Killion

Seriously. This “news” makes it sound as if Android is a brand of phone. This is like saying “apple” sold a bunch of computers at verizon last year but then Verizon started selling Windows based computers too, and they outsold Apple. Well no shit, huh?

WhatAsianguy

Actually, the problem is not so much that Android OS phones have been released by the bucket full, though it does help sell Android as an innovative OS, rather, the problem is that like you said, Blackberry only releases 1 or 2 phones a year, but they look exactly the same as the ones from the year before, and the year before that. Heck, even the specs are generally the same. About the only thing that changes with BBs is the color they come in. It’s why so many former BB owners, myself included, switched to Android devices. BB just wasn’t keeping up, the OS is sub-par at best, and their internet browsing was atrocious. Even RIM acknowledges that they have a huge problem, you seem to be the only one denying it.

!Xobila

Oh yes the ignorant “All BlackBerry’s look the same” argument, can you please explain to me how the BB Storm, BB Tour and BB Style all look the same?
Also just because a company is improving their products doesn’t mean that their old products had “huge problems”, by that logic all precious iOS and Android OS version had “huge problems”.
Finally if you’re honest with yourself you’ll admit that you probably switched from BB to Android not because it has more feature but because it has more fart apps…

Coronaboy102000

Get real. Blackberry is behind the curve. I get the loyalty to the brand, but you’re just in denial about their shortcomings.

Norm

Awwww YES, DROID DOES BABY!!! However I am saddened that it will decline in Q1 2011 as the iphone comes to take over. I will be the violinist on the DROID Titanic as it goes down though.

Tommy

Norm your a fucking idiot.

Anonymous

hah you called him an idiot while using “your”

Joebutler85

It’s gonna take alot more than the mediocrity that is the iPhone coming to Verizon to derail Androids growth. Regardless of what Apple does Android will still continue to gain chunks of marketshare from everyone else. Apple needs to innovate and fast because the iPhone4 was outdated by Android phones released 2 months prior let alone the slew of phones that have been released since its release and the ones coming down the pipeline in the coming months. Also Apple already came out saying they won’t be making a 4G iPhone next year which is a HUGE mistake considering Sprint already has 4G Androids and Verizon will be releasing 4G Androids on its LTE network by mid next year. Apple loves to intentionally outdate itself for some weird reason.

Anonymous

Agreed. If the iCrap comes to Verizon in Jan/Feb, it’s going to look like a cheap alternative to the other dual-core phones that are carrying the Android platform.

Anonymous

If android is so ahead of the game than why do they come with SD card slots and cheap class 2 SD cards. Unless you been living up in the moon everyone knows integrated flash storage is about 50x faster than even the over price class 10 SD cards. Apple is years ahead of everyone else in screen resolution, quality camera sensor, integrated flash, battery power management and a lot more.

Smartman

Common sense will tell you that back in 2009 Verizion’s android selection was awful. And all they pushed was Blackberry, but now that they have some options, it’s only natural that more Android phones would be sold. It’s not a surprise at all

http://twitter.com/#!/dutchtender m j

it’s a surprise to rimm shareholders.

System Administrator

LOL, check the ticker tape over the last couple of months. Better yet, check it after RIM announces its Q3 results. You wished you had some.

Moosebump

Its not a surprise to RIMM shareholders, this was news about a year ago.

serpentor

What’s also shocking is how well the palm sold when it was introduced. I didn’t expect that seeing how Verizon didn’t push it at all.

http://twitter.com/netposer Rob Baker

RIMS sucks ass on Verizon now. The only BB worth getting is the Bold and it’s just a work horse and nothing more. The Storm series sucked and I don’t see RIM doing jack shit with their hand sets anytime soon.

The “Co-CEOs” need to bring QNX to a hand set first instead of the Playbook.

agree, im a diehard bb user, ive had both storms, tour, and bold. while non of these phones wowed me, they did do “just their job”, nothing fancy no awesome apps (im a minimalist-10apps). i had a htc inc’d an the biggest thing i can say about it was how fast the browser was and reboot time (bb user know what i mean). rim needs to step up their game or they will be the next palm. my upgrad is in feb, and unless the s3 is awesome, i will be looking @ the sam fasinate (spelling) or iphone. sorry rim.

serpentor

I think this post should also point out that while RIM may have dropped to 20% market share of Verizon smartphones they didn’t sell any less in terms of handset units compared to before. That’s why when they’re financials come out they’re doing as well as ever.

RIM is still doing the same business but they only seem to be doing less because the market is growing.

TechJunkieforLife

Is this not a great area of concern? All that market growth into smartphones and the network leader gained none of it? Great that they didn’t step backward in sales, but an obvious marker of missing the market trend in offering handsets of market interest.I would worry about missing out so much if I was in RIM’s positiom, acceptance of being average is road to ruin just ask Nokia.

serpentor

No, they know what their business is – enterprise. iPhone and Android introduced the consumer smartphone.

And the reason why RIM is still selling at the levels they always have been is because companies have different priorities than consumers. They’re not looking for the latest and greatest. When they find something that works, they stick with it.

Larrywho

That would be true, if Apple and Google weren’t aiming their guns at Enterprise. Look at many companies that used to be exclusive Blackberry users, now, they are either switching to a mixed model that allows people to use iPhones, or fully replacing their Blackberries with iPhones. Android is also aggressively targeting that market, and as time passes they will also take RIMs enterprise business. The contest will likely be iOS v Android v Win Phone 7 (it they can get their act together) v HP/Palm (once they begin releasing their new phones this year). RIM is way behind most of these in mindshare, and in tech specs, etc. QNX can help them catch up, but it needs to make it to a phone soon, or risk RIM becoming the next Palm. Then again, I guess Dell wouldn’t mind buying RIM once that happens.

serpentor

RIM is far far far from being a takeover target or in need of being bought out. Look at windows, businesses would still rather stick with XP than update to W7.

System Administrator

What a load of crap. Market share means squat when the market size is growing like gangbusters. We should be looking at units sold. Sure, Android platform is taking bigger market share but RIM’s handset sales is still growing at a respectable clip quarter over quarter. RIM is not shrinking, it isn’t going bankrupt and it’s nothing like Palm. What a useless misleading piece of sh*t investigative research.

iMiiTH

Especially when it’s on a cdma network; the product of american protectionism.
BlackBerry’s selling them at 20% margin because they’ve only produced 2 cdma BlackBerries for them. Not the 5 different phones like the other manufacturers.

Anonymous

They really cracked the case here. You are right Andrew in saying that these numbers SHOULD NOT BE IGNORED!

Who would have thought that as Verizon offered and promoted more smartphones that RIM would decline in total smartphone share? That’s a shocker that will reverberate through the world of economics. It’s almost as if consumers don’t buy the same product!

Run for the hills RIM! Sure you only launched two devices on Verizon and still outsold some competitors but it’s all over now!

Really, this says nothing other than Verizon has more smartphones available and that Verizon isn’t critical to RIM’s sales.

Moosebump

If you’re RIMM you’d have to be worried by the degree to which a carrier can turn on or off your sales. Apple dictates to carriers. RIMM doesn’t. What if carriers in the rest of the world start to follow the same path as Verizon?

When the iPhone launched and Verizon didn’t have it they looked around and said what can we offer right now while the smartphone market is exploding… BB. BB gives them the Storm. Verizon then learns its lesson: RIMM is no Apple. So a year ago Vz starts the Android/Droid blitz because it looks like a better option than relying on Storm II. Forget these stats, look at it from RIMM’s perpective – Verizon went from being 25% of RIMM sales to less than 10% in a couple of quarters. Android goes from less than 2% to >20% share. If it weren’t for booming international sales RIMM sales would have dropped hard.

This is not a great omen for RIMM. If the rest of the world discovers Android, RIMM is in trouble with all their hopes resting on reinvention through QNX.

Anonymous

The US is the only country in the western world where the iPhone doesn’t sell on multiple carriers alongside Android and RIM.

And you keep saying that these numbers should be worrisome for RIM. All through this “drop” on Verizon they’ve posted record sales numbers. Why do so many people think RIM only gets sales because they are the only option?

Anonymous

Apple dictates? Funny they are only on one US carrier because at&t bends over for them? Apple will never be cross carrier like RIM as they lose the profit margin they covet.

Take ANY devices international and you’ll get a clue why RIM is thriving there. It’s just cheaper period. I went through europe and my data bill on iPhone was near $900. Blackberry was $120.

Do that F’n math for a few hundred devices and you’ll understand why corporations by Blackberry by the hundred. It’s not about the OS, the screen or the CPU for everyone.

http://twitter.com/chriscanty chris canty

Well, this is what happens when a slightly updated, but still out of date phone like the curve 3 is your newest release on a carrier….

Lakshman333

You idiots. Android sales aren’t 80%. It more like 40%. Look at the graph carefully.

System Administrator

Uh, sorry to break it to ya but add up all the different Android vendors and, that makes it close to 80% (not counting Palm). That’s the other thing that bothers me. Blackberry is a device and Android is a platform. Not quite a fair comparison, is it now?

Lakshman333

Ur right. My bad. I still think blackberries are gonna do great tho in sales figures.

http://twitter.com/moosebump R L

Thanks for calling us idiots though.

At least you didn’t say “your all loosers”

D Town Tony

your all loosers!

http://twitter.com/starnovsky Stan Tarnovsky

Blackberry is in fact a platform (OS) and it has multiple devices on it, all from the same manufacturer though.

Waitng for iPhone on VZN

Why is anyone surprised? All the new BB phones that have any merit have been wasted on AT&T? The duds have been dumped on Verizon and with the strength of their network, they can sell a Get Smart Shoe Phone to any idiot IT/Telcon manager at a a big corporation.

http://twitter.com/brswa Brandon

Well Basillie.. Looks like that distortion field you speak of is thinking people will stick with you if there are better products available.

Anonymous

Excuse me but wireless carriers could give a crap about WHAT they sell. As long as it drives contracts / renewals they will market it. BOGO sold a lot of Blackberrys for VZW and still does. You also have a lot of devices that came out this year and VZW launched .. 3 Blackberry models (9650 / 9330 / 8530).

So what happens next year when RIM is a LTE smartphone launch partner? Can the market sustain 100 Android models a year?

Unless RIM posts record loss next week all this utter crap needs to stop. This is not a zero sum game. The market is larger then iPhone and Androind.

Guest

haha see… and you blackberry losers thought that RIM was doing so well

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1001483324 Gerry Quaglia

Begin death spiral.

Anonymous

Keep an eye or RIM stock. Wait for RIM stock to hit bottom or if Google, MS or Nokia are about to make a play for it. And If it seems like Google is going to make a play for it’s enterprise patents and hardware, buy! buy! buy!

Insideontheoutside

If you only knew what RIM is working on behind the scenes. In the next 12 months you’ll be seeing significant changes in product offerings. On the surface TODAY, it may appear to some like not much is happening on the smartphone side. Some pretty amazing and exciting things are happening inside RIM right now, that’s all I can say.

Max

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
What have I been saying all along, Blackberry MORONS? You said ‘business business business’ and we’ve been saying ‘consumer rules, morons’ and guess what? Consumer rules. Even business are switching while you MORONS stay faithful to your ancient devices. Time to tech-up, morons. Drop your brickbreaker and your BB Messenger. Any number of ‘apps’, you know..those things you don’t have? Yeah, those things..any number of them will do exactly what messenger does. EXACTLY. Man up, boys. Everyone else but you is dropping Blackberry. Time to move to our century.

Gmx24

Insideontheoutside the only neat feature coming is a knock off pinch to zoom for the BB’s….

care meter: [-|—————–]

Anonymous

Android isn’t as high as it should b yet, but I’m glad ppl r finally starting 2 notice how bad ALL Blackberrys r!

http://twitter.com/av8ryxx Don Covin

Ooops

Rlasher

One reason is that all of the good BlackBerry phone go to ATT. Look at the Bold and Torch. I have a 9650 and it is a nice unit but in the spring when the new LTE phones come out, I am sure that I will be changing over to an Android phone myself.